Expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone - First Month Report

On 25 October 2021, the Mayor of London expanded the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) up to, but not including, the North and South Circular roads. The new zone is 18 times larger than before with nearly 4 million people living in the zone. Measuring 380km², it covers one quarter of London and is the largest zone of its kind in Europe.

This report evaluates the impact of the newly expanded scheme in its first month. The initial data shows that the scheme has been highly effective at driving reductions in the number of older, more polluting, vehicles on London’s roads.

Key findings from the first month of operation of the expanded ULEZ are:

• The compliance rate (percentage of vehicles detected in the zone that meet the strict emissions standards) during the first month was 92 per cent. Compared to the compliance levels in 2017 of 39 per cent, this indicates there has been an increase of 53 percentage points.
• Compliance was also up from 87 per cent in the two weeks before the scheme was launched.
• On an average weekday, there were 47,000 fewer non-compliant vehicles detected in the expanded zone compared to the two weeks before the scheme was introduced. This is a 37 per cent reduction in non-compliant vehicles.
• On an average weekday there were 11,000 fewer vehicles driving each day in the zone. This is a 1 per cent reduction, although it will take more time for traffic patterns post launch to fully emerge.
• Compliance with the ULEZ standards on the boundary roads was at 88 per cent, an increase of 4 percentage points since the scheme went live in October. Total traffic on the boundary has slightly decreased since the scheme launched, although it will take more time for traffic patterns post launch to fully emerge.
• Compliance with the ULEZ standards in the rest of London outside the zone was at 82 per cent, an increase of 2 percentage points since the scheme went live in October. This demonstrates the wider air quality benefits of the scheme beyond its boundary.
• On an average day, including both weekends and weekdays, in the scheme’s first month of operation around 77,000 non-compliant, unique vehicles were detected in the zone. Of these, on an average day, 59% paid the charge. The remainder were non-chargeable or were issued warning notices.
• To support the transition to cleaner vehicles the Mayor invested £61 million in scrappage schemes to help low income and disabled Londoners as well as charities and small businesses to prepare for the ULEZ. Between them the scrappage schemes have helped remove over 13,500 older, more polluting vehicles from London’s roads.